Xylene Isomerization Process and Catalyst Therefor

ABSTRACT

The invention concerns a xylenes isomerization process for the production of equilibrium or near-equilibrium xylenes from a feedstream comprising phenol and/or styrene.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of ProvisionalApplication 61/695,493, filed on Aug. 31, 2012.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a xylene isomerization process and catalysttherefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An equilibrium mixture of xylenes contains about 24 wt % paraxylene(PX), 56 wt % metaxylene (MX), and 20 wt % orthoxylene (OX). PX isrelatively high value as compared with MX and OX, since it is a startingmaterial for polyester fibers and resins. Therefore it is advantageousto isomerize OX and/or MX to PX, such as isomer ng a PX-lean stream(i.e., depleted from equilibrium value) to equilibrium for PX recovery.It is an active area, of research.

Typically, xylene streams found in chemical or petrochemical plants alsocontain ethylbenzene (EB). Conventional isomerization technologiesoperating at high temperatures (e.g., 400° C.) in vapor phase isomerizethe xylenes and dealkylate EB to benzene. Other vapor-phaseisomerization technologies convert EB to xylenes in addition to xylenesisomerization. There are also liquid-phase isomerization technologies.Conventional isomerization technologies typically produce significantamounts (>0.5 mol %) of byproducts such as benzene and A9+ (aromatichydrocarbons having 9 or more carbon atoms), and are also sensitive(e.g., the isomerization catalyst deactivates) to impurities in thefeedstream. Most isomerization technologies also require high hydrogenpartial pressure to maintain the catalyst activity, which makes theprocess arrangement complex and expensive.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,550 teaches ZSM-5 useful in the liquid phaseisomerization of xylene. The zeolite used has a SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of lessthan 20.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,448,459 teaches isomerization without hydrogen in aliquid phase diluted with toluene used as desorbent in a simulatedmoving bed adsorptive separation unit. The catalyst used in the liquidphase isomerization is said to be zeolitic, for example ZSM-5, and inthe example it is specified that there is no hydrogen.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,866 teaches a two stage, liquid or partially liquidphase isomerization process using a zeolitic-based catalyst systempreferably based on zeolite beta and on pentasil-type zeolite. Thispatent also sets forth numerous examples of prior art catalyst systems,including ZSM-5.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,244,409 teaches small crystallite ZSM-5 which may beused for isomerization reactions.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,371,913 teaches a ZSM-5 mole sieve further comprising Gaused as an isomerization catalyst to provide an increased amount of PXin the liquid phase in the substantial absence of H₂. The amount of H₂present is stated to be less than 0.05, preferably less than 0.01, moleH₂/mole feed.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,495,137 teaches a two-stage isomerization system, thefirst zone operating in the absence of hydrogen (as in the above patent)using a platinum-free catalyst and the second zone using a catalystcomprising a molecular sieve and a platinum-group to metal component.The catalyst in the first zone is preferably a Ga-MET-type zeolite andit is preferred that the catalyst for the first zone has a Si:Al ratiogreater than about 10.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,592,499 teaches a multi-stage process for co-producingPX and styrene from a feed of hydrocarbons comprising xylenes and EB. Inthe first stage, PX is separated from the feed by means of a simulatedmoving bed adsorptive separation column to is produce a raffinatecomprising EB, OX, and MX. Next, EB in the raffinate is dehydrogenatedto styrene. Eventually a stream containing unconverted EB, MX, and OX isobtained and contacted with an isomerization catalyst preferably in theliquid phase. The catalyst is zeolitic, such as ZSM-5.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,932,426 teaches a two-stage isomerization process, thefirst stage in the liquid phase in the substantial absence of H₂ toobtain an intermediate stream. In the second stage, the intermediatestream is mixed with a stream rich in naphthene, and contacted with anisomerization catalyst. By “substantial absence of H₂” is meant no freehydrogen is added to a feed mixture and any dissolved hydrogen fromprior processing is substantially less than about 0.05 moles/mole offeed. The first isomerization catalyst includes a molecular sieve,typically an aluminosilicate having a Si:Al₂ ratio greater than about10. In the example given, a Ga source is used to make the catalysts forboth the first and second isomerization steps.

U.S. Publication No. 2010-0152508 (U.S. application Ser. No. 12/612,007,now allowed) teaches a process for isomerization that is at leastpartially in the liquid phase and includes a step of removal of C9aromatic hydrocarbons from a feedstream including C8 and C9 aromatichydrocarbons.

U.S. Publication No. 2011-0263918 teaches, in embodiments the processtakes a PX-lean feedstream to produce a product having equilibrium ornear equilibrium xylenes. In embodiments the process produces very lowlevels of by-products (such as <0.3 wt. %). Thus, there is no need foradditional distillation columns. Furthermore, the technology can operatewithout the presence of any hydrogen or with only low ppm levels ofdissolved hydrogen, making it a simple and cost-effective process.

Other relevant documents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,439,412; 7,626,065;U.S. Publication Nos. 2011-0108867; 2012-0108868; and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/861,473.

It has recently been discovered that paraxylene-enriched streams fromthe alkylation of benzene and/or toluene with methanol and/ordimethylether (DME) over acid-active catalysts such asphosphorus-containing ZSM-5 contain oxygenates such as phenol andolefins such as styrene, which are not easily removed from thealkylation reactor feedstreams. The presence of such impurities arebelieved to be detrimental to numerous downstream processing steps inthe conversion of paraxylene to polyester fibers and resins. Methods oftreating such phenol and styrene-containing product streams from suchsources as the aforementioned alkylation reaction in the presence ofacid-active catalyst, reformate streams, imported streams (e.g.,contamination by prior cargoes) are known; see U.S. patent applicationSer. Nos. 13/618,211; 13/557,605; 13/483,836; 13/487,651; and U.S.Publication Nos. 2011-0092755; 2011-0092756; and references citedtherein.

The present inventors have discovered a catalyst system for a liquidisomerization process that survives a low level of styrene and phenols.In embodiments the process takes a PX-lean feedstream comprising atleast one of styrene and phenol to produce a product having equilibriumor near equilibrium xylenes. Furthermore, the technology can operatewithout the presence of any hydrogen or with only low ppm levels ofdissolved hydrogen, making it a simple and cost-effective process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to a xylenes isomerization process, includinga liquid phase isomerization, for the production of equilibrium ornear-equilibrium xylenes, comprising passing a paraxylene-depletedaromatic hydrocarbon feedstream containing at least one of phenol andstyrene in the amount of about 10 ppm phenol or less and/or 100 ppmstyrene or less to a liquid isomerization process in the presence of anappropriate catalyst under suitable process conditions, including atemperature of less than 295° C., preferably less than 260° C. (500° F.)and a pressure sufficient to maintain the xylenes in liquid phase, toproduce a product aromatic hydrocarbon process stream having anincreased amount of paraxylene relative to said feedstream.

In embodiments the amount of phenol in said feedstream is 5 ppm or less,and in other embodiments the amount of phenol is 2 ppm or less. Inembodiments the amount of styrene in said feedstream is 50 ppm or less,and in other embodiments the amount of styrene in said feedstream is 20ppm or less.

In embodiments there is also at least one step of purification of saidfeedstream upstream and/or downstream of said liquid isomerizationprocess, wherein said at least one step is selected from removal of atleast a portion of styrene in said feedstream and/or removal of at leasta portion of phenol in said feedstream.

In embodiments, the liquid phase isomerization process utilizes acatalyst comprising ZSM-5 and/or MCM-49.

In embodiments the catalyst comprises ZSM-5 crystals in the protonatedform to (HZSM-5), and further characterized by a crystal size of <0.1micron and a SiO₂/Al₂O₃ molar ratio of about 20-100, preferably 20-50.

In embodiments, the process can be operated in a continuous mode withlow ppm levels of H₂ in the feed and in other embodiments in a cyclicmode without H₂ in feed but with periodic regenerations of the catalyst.

In embodiments, the process is operated in a continuous mode with from 4to 10 ppm H₂ at a temperature of less than 295° C. and total pressuresufficient to maintain the xylenes in the liquid phase.

In embodiments, the process is operated in a cyclic mode without H₂ inthe feed but with periodic regenerations using greater than 5 ppm H₂ inthe feed, in embodiments at least 10 ppm H₂ in the feed, in otherembodiments at least 20 ppm H₂ in the feed.

It is an object of the invention to provide a method of processingparaxylene-depleted feedstreams containing at least one of styreneand/or phenol, including a liquid phase isomerization process which,compared to conventional xylenes isomerization processes, provides atleast one of the advantages selected from low investment, low operatingcosts, low byproduct yields, and low xylem loss.

These and other objects, features, and advantages will become apparentas reference is made to the following detailed description, preferredembodiments, examples, and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates paraxylene yields for ZSM-5 crystals of various sizesfor embodiments of the liquid phase xylene isomerization processaccording to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a comparison of liquid isomerization of different feeds,illustrating at least one advantage of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to the invention, there is provided a process for theisomerization of a paraxylene-depleted aromatic hydrocarbon feedstreamcomprising at least one of phenol, styrene, and mixtures thereof,wherein phenol is present in the amount of 10 ppm or less, such as 5 ppmor less, or 2 ppm or less, and/or styrene is present in the amount of100 ppm or less, such as 50 ppm or less, or 20 ppm or less, wherein saidisomerization of a paraxylene-depleted feedstream is in the presence ofa catalyst comprising MCM-49 and/or an HZSM-5 catalyst, wherein saidHZSM-5 catalyst is characterized in embodiments by a crystal size of<0.1 micron and a SiO₂/Al₂O₃ molar ratio of about 20-100, preferably20-50, in a reactor at a temperature of less than 295° C., preferably260° C. or less, and a pressure sufficient to maintain the xylenes inliquid phase.

The process may use low ppm levels of H₂. Preferably, the H₂concentration in the liquid phase in said reactor is less than 100 ppm(wt % unless otherwise specified). In embodiments, the process isoperated in a continuous mode with from 4 to 10 ppm H₂. In otherembodiments the process is operated in a cyclic mode without H₂ in thefeed but with periodic regenerations using greater than 5 ppm H₂ in thefeed, in embodiments at least 10 ppm H₂ in the feed, in otherembodiments at least 20 ppm H₂ in the feed. In still other embodiments,a combination of the aforementioned continuous mode and cyclic modes maybe utilized.

in embodiments, the process utilizes a catalyst comprising ZSM-5crystals along with a binder or the ZSM-5 crystals may be self-bound.

In preferred embodiments the ZSM-5 catalyst, if present, can becharacterized in any of the embodiments of the invention by one or moreof the following characteristics:

-   -   the ZSM-5 is in the proton form (HZSM-5);    -   the ZSM-5 has a crystal size of less than 0.1 microns;    -   the ZSM-5 has a mesoporous surface area (MSA) greater than 45        m²/g;    -   the ZSM-5 has a zeolite surface area (ZSA) to mesoporous surface        area (MSA) ratio of less than 9; and    -   a silica to alumina weight ratio in the range of 20 to 50.

As used herein, “crystal size” means average crystal size and isconveniently determined by electron microscopy, as is well-known per sein the art. The surface areas may also be determined by methodswell-known in the art.

The ZSM-5 catalyst can be formulated using various techniques such asextrusion, pelletization, oil dropping, spray drying, and the like,techniques which are per se well-known in the art. Optionally, bindermaterials such as alumina, silica, clay, aluminosilicate, may be used inthe formulation. In preferred embodiments, the catalyst is characterizedby one or more of the following properties with respect to the binder:

-   -   the zeolite:binder weight ratio is from 1:9 to 9:1;    -   the binder preferably comprises silica, alumina, and        aluminosilicate; and    -   the catalyst is preferably extruded using acetic acid as        extrusion aid.

The preferred reactor is fixed bed and the flow may be up or down.

In embodiments, the process can be operated in a continuous mode withlow ppm levels of H₂ dissolved in the feed and in other embodiments in acyclic mode without the H₂ in feed but with periodic regenerations.

By “low ppm” is meant levels which one of ordinary skill in the artwould express as “ppm”, generally below 100 ppm. The expression “ppm” isweight ppm (wppm) unless otherwise specified.

In embodiments, very low levels of by products are produced, such asless than 1 wt % or preferably less than 0.5 wt % of by productsselected from non-aromatic compounds, benzene and A9+ (aromatichydrocarbons having 9 or more carbon atoms), and mixtures thereof.

The process comprises contacting a feedstream comprising C8 aromatichydrocarbons with a catalyst suitable for isomerization, preferably acatalyst comprising MCM-49 and/or ZSM-5, preferably a catalystcomprising ZSM-5 and more preferably having one or more of theaforementioned properties and most preferably all of the aforementionedproperties, at a temperature below 295° C., preferably below 280° C.,and at a pressure sufficiently to keep the reactant in liquid phase. Oneof skill in the art in the possession of the present disclosure would beable to determine other operating characteristics, such as a lowertemperature, within which the present invention may be practiced. Lowerlimits may be, for instance, above 180° C. or 190° C. or 200° C., or210° C., and the like. The flow rate (measured as wt-hourly spacevelocity, “WHSV”) can be selected by one of ordinary skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure, but may advantageously be selectedwithin the range from 1 to 100 hr⁻¹ (WHSV), preferably from 1 to 20 hr⁻¹(WHSV), and more preferably from 1 to 10 hr⁻¹ (WHSV).

In embodiments, a process for the isomerization of an aromatichydrocarbon feedstream consisting essentially of a xylenes wherein theconcentration of paraxylene is less than about 22 wt % relative to thetotal C8 aromatic hydrocarbons in said feedstream, and at least one ofphenol and styrene, said process comprising:

(a) treating said feedstream to reduce the amount of at least one ofphenol and styrene relative to the amount of paraxylene in said aromatichydrocarbon feedstream, wherein said treating comprises: (i) contact ofsaid feedstream with a material selective for the reduction of phenolrelative to styrene and paraxylene; and/or (ii) contact of saidfeedstream with a material selective for the reduction of styrenerelative to phenol and paraxylene, to produce a first product having areduced concentration of phenol and/or styrene relative to saidfeedstream in (a), and then

(b) isomerizing said first product in the liquid phase in presence of anHZSM-5 catalyst, characterized in embodiments by a crystal size of <0.1micron and a SiO₂/Al₂O₃ molar ratio of about 20-100, in a reactor at atemperature of less than 295° C., preferably 260° C. or less, and apressure sufficient to maintain the xylenes in liquid phase, to producta second product having an increased amount of paraxylene relative tosaid feedstream in (a). In preferred embodiments, the feedstream in (a)comprises paraxylene from reformate and/or imported paraxylene. In amore preferred embodiment of the aforementioned embodiment or preferredembodiment, said first product comprises at least one of phenol andstyrene, and wherein the amount of phenol is less than 10 ppm,preferably less than 5 ppm, more preferably less than 2 ppm, and theamount of styrene is less than 100 ppm, preferably less than 50 ppm,more preferably less than 20 ppm. The term “selective for reduction of”with respect to phenol and/or styrene means that the specified speciesis removed or reduce, such as by adsorption, isomerization, and thelike, in an amount greater than the removal (again, such as byadsorption, isomerization, and the like) of the other xylenes that thefeedstream. As used herein, when the term “consists essentially of” (orsimilar language) means species which affect the basic and novelfeatures of the invention, styrene, phenol, and the xylene isomers.

Other details of xylenes liquid phase isomerization are available inU.S. Pat. Nos. 7,439,412; 7,626,065, U.S. application Ser. No.12/612,007, now allowed; and U.S. Publication No. 2011-0263918.

The following experiments are intended to illustrate a process accordingto present invention and should be taken as representative thereof andnot limiting.

Example 1

Three ZSM-5 crystals listed below in Table 1 were prepared toinvestigate the effects of silica/alumina ratio and crystal size in aprocess according to the present invention.

TABLE 1 SiO₂/Al₂O₃ Crystal ZSM-5 Crystals Ratios Sizes, micron I 25 0.5II 60 <0.1 III 25 <0.1

The crystals were ion exchanged to proton form and extruded into 1/20″(about 0.127 cm) extrudates with an alumina binder. The weight ratio ofcrystal to binder was 4. The extrudates were calcined at 538° C. Theextrudates were evaluated using a feed of 13.28 wt % para-xylene, 63.72wt % meta-xylene, 17.94 wt % ortho-xylene, 1.52 wt % ethylbenzene, 1.28wt % toluene, and 2.25 wt % non-aromatics, and low levels of benzene andnine-carbon aromatic compounds. The tests were performed in a ¼″ (about0.635 cm) stainless steel reactor with the feed going up flow throughthe catalyst bed. Test conditions are listed below to in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Reactor Flowrate, Weight Catalyst Reactor pressure, Hourly SpaceCrystals loading, g temp., ° C. psig Velocity (hr⁻¹) I 0.4550 246 265(1928 kPa) 3.69 II 0.4545 246 265 3.69 III 0.4610 246 265 3.74

Test results are shown in FIG. 1. It is seen that all three catalystswere able to isomerize meta- and ortho-xylene to para-xylene. However,the paraxylene yield decreased in is the order of III>I>II and that thecatalyst with crystal II delivered a near-equilibrium para-xylene yield(97-98% equilibrium). A comparison between Catalysts III and II showsthat lowering silica/alumina ratio from 60 to 25 raised para-xyleneyield from about 20.2% to about 22.2% and between Catalysts III and Ishows that reducing crystal size from 0.5 to <0.1 micron raisedpara-xylene yield from an average of 21.6% to 22.2%.

Example 2

Two parallel runs were conducted to investigate the effect of feedcontaminants phenol and styrene on liquid phase isomerization. Catalystwas 1/20″ (about 0.127 cm) catalyst extrudates prepared from CatalystIII. Run #1 used Test Feeds and Run #2 used Reference Feeds (free ofstyrene and phenol). Typical compositions of the two feeds are 3.6-4.7wt % paraxylene, 57.9-60.4 wt % metaxylene, 24.8-26.0 wt % orthoxylene,8.7-9.5 wt % ethylbenzene, 0.15-0.19 wt % toluene, 1.2-2.8 wt %non-aromatics, and low levels of benzene and nine-carbon aromaticcompounds. Test Feeds contained 20 ppm styrene and 2 ppm phenol.

Performance tests were conducted in a ¼″ (0.635 cm) stainless steelreactor with the feed going up flow through a catalyst bed. Testconditions are listed below in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Reactor Reactor Flowrate, Weight Catalyst temp., pressure,Hourly Space loading, g ° C. psig Velocity Run #1 with Test 0.5056 235,255 265 1.5-2.6 Feed Run #2 with 0.5150 235, 255 265 1.8-2.5 ReferenceFeed

Test results are shown in FIG. 2. It is seen that both Run #1 with TestFeeds and Run #2 with Reference Feeds achieved near-equilibriumparaxylene yield (97-98% of equilibrium value). Furthermore, acomparison between two runs shows that feed contaminants such as 20 ppmstyrene and 2 ppm phenol had no impact on catalyst stability.

Example 3

The following experiments were run using the preferred catalyst of theinvention on various feedstreams (Table 4) at the same conditions,including a temperature of 255° C. and 2.1 hr⁻¹ (WHSV). Experiments wererun in a micro-unit; “PX concentration decrease (%)” is paraxylenedecrease relative to other C8 aromatic hydrocarbons in the productversus feed, and are extrapolations based on observed trends for sixmonths (run 1 and 2), one week (run 3), and 2 weeks (2 weeks).

TABLE 4 Phenol, Styrene, PX concentration Run ppm ppm decrease (%) 1 0 00 (i.e. no deactivation) 2 2 20 0 3 2 43 4.3 4 4 20 4.7

Two styrene concentrations studied were 20 and 43.2 wppm. Thetemperature of testing was 255° C. for both feeds. Catalyst aging datashowed that with 43.2 wpm styrene in the feed, the LPI catalystdeactivated at a rate of 4.3% decrease in PX yield per year (Table 1).

Two phenol concentrations studied were 2 and 4 wppm. Temperatures oftesting were 255 and 275° C. for the 2 wppm phenol feed, and 255, 265,and 275° C. for the 4 wppm phenol feed. With 2 wppm phenol in the feed,no catalyst aging was observed at either temperature (Table 1). With the4 wppm phenol in the feed, however, catalyst aging was observed at 255and 265° C., but not at 275° C.; the aging rates were 4.66% decrease PXyield per year at 255° C. and 0.88% at 265° C. (Table 3).

TABLE 5 Impact of Styrene and Phenol on LPI Catalyst Aging CatalystAging Rate Phenol, Styrene, (Drop in absolute PX Temp, ° C. WHSV, h−1wppm wppm Yield per year) 255 2.1 2 20 0 255 2.1 4 20 4.66% 265 2.1 4 200.88% 275 2.1 4 20 0 255 2.1 2 43.2 4.30%

In an embodiment, a. PX-lean xylenes feedstream is fed to at least onereactor. “PX-lean”, for the purposes of the present invention, meansless than equilibrium amount of paraxylene, i.e., less than 24 mol % PX,based on 100 mol % xylene feedstream. In preferred embodiments, thefeedstream will comprise from 2 to 18 mol % PX, based on 100 mol %xylene feedstream.

In preferred embodiments, there is no H₂ in the xylene feedstream. It isdifficult to measure H₂ in xylene feedstreams with any accuracy at lowppm levels (which may be attempted by such methods as GC techniquescommonly known), and therefore the expression “no H₂” as used herein ismeant no H₂ beyond inevitable impurities, and also that there is nopurposeful (intentional) addition of H₂ in such feedstreams. Thefeedstreams may also be purged with an inert gas, such as N₂, to reduceeven “inevitable impurities” of H₂, if so desired. The expression“H₂-free”, also used herein, is intended to mean the same thing as “noH₂”. In embodiments, it will be sufficient for the purposes of thepresent invention that the “H₂-free” feedstream contain less than orequal to 4 ppm H₂. Low ppm amounts of H₂ used in the continuous modewill be, preferably, greater than 4 ppm to about 10 ppm (equivalent to0.00001 moles of H₂ per mole of xylenes). However, the amount of H₂ maybe higher, such as 50 or 100 ppm.

In practice, one way of accomplishing low ppm levels of H₂ is bycontrolling the quantity of H₂ added to the “H₂-free stream”. Forinstance, we may know that a stream is H₂ free because we know whatupstream processing it has gone through, such as distillation whichwould rid a stream of H2 easily. Then by carefully controlling how muchH₂ is added, we would know the final H₂ quantity.

The reactor may be of any type, such as a fixed bed reactor, fluid bedreactor, dense bed reactor, and the like. For example, the reactor couldbe a tubular fixed bed reactor packed with a catalyst suitable forisomerization of C8 aromatic hydrocarbons, more preferably a catalystcomprising HZSM-5 and/or MCM-49. The feedstream can flow through thereactor in either up-flow or down-flow mode. Such a reactor can beoperated at a temperature below 295° C., a flow rate within the range of0.1 to 100 hr⁻¹ (WHSV), and a pressure sufficiently high to keep thefeedstream at liquid phase inside the reactor and advantageouslymaintained so as to achieve the low byproducts yields. The person ofordinary skill in the art, in possession of the present disclosure, canachieve such conditions without more than routine experimentation. Oncetemperature is set, those skilled in the an can determine what pressureto use to keep it in liquid phase based on xylenes VLE(vapor-liquid-equilibrium) data. By way of example, without intending tobe limiting, in embodiments the pressure may be above 100 psia, orpreferably above 150 psia.

Depending on the operating conditions, the catalyst may exhibit a slowdeactivation. Low ppm levels of dissolved hydrogen in the xylenes feedcan completely mitigate such deactivation. Thus, one can run the reactorwith a H₂-free xylene feed for a period of time, the length of whichdepends on the selection of operating parameters of the operator, and atthe end of the operation, replace the H₂-free xylene feed with aH₂-containing xylene feed at the same operating conditions. Thus, inthis embodiment, H₂ is now purposefully added to the feed. Only low ppmlevels are necessary. Although, as mentioned above, GC techniques arenot particularly good at measuring H₂ levels accurately at low ppmlevels in a C8 aromatic hydrocarbon feedstream, the presence of H₂ atsuch levels can be estimated based on H₂-xylenes VLE. For the purposesof the present invention, when the “H₂-free” feedstream is defined ascontaining 0.00005 moles H₂/mole xylenes or less, or 0.00001 molesH₂/mole xylenes or less, the H₂-containing xylene feed should havegreater than 0.00005 moles H₂/mole xylenes, or greater than 0.00001moles H₂/mole xylenes, respectively.

It has been surprisingly found that the H₂-containing xylene feed willregenerate the catalyst to recover the lost activity. The regenerationperiod can vary, such as from 1 day to a few weeks. At the end of theregeneration, an operator can replace the H₂-containing feed with theH₂-free feed and resume the normal operation.

This regeneration technique has at least several advantages. It is easyto implement and cost effective. Hydrogen can readily dissolve inxylenes at the required level. By way of example, at 160 psia, 71 ppm H₂will be dissolved in xylenes at room temperature. It does not requiresuch expensive and complex process equipment as separator andrecompressor that is required for the high H₂ partial pressure inconventional vapor-phase isomerization technologies. The regeneration isdone with a H₂-containing xylene feed at the same conditions as that forthe normal operation, which means that even during regeneration, thereactor is still producing equilibrium or near equilibrium xylenes; thuswould be no productivity loss. In embodiments the operator can increasethe H₂ concentration during the regeneration to as high as 100% H₂ and0% xylenes and still accomplish the objective.

In another embodiment, low ppm levels of H₂ such as 4 to 100 ppm,preferably 4 to 10 ppm (within the standard sampling error possible bycurrent measurement techniques) are dissolved in the xylene feed and fedto the reactor continuously throughout the operation. The H₂ at suchlevels will completely prevent the catalyst deactivation. As a result,in this embodiment, there is provided a process allowing for long,continuous operation without any need to stop for regeneration. Inaddition to the advantages listed above, in this embodiment aconsistently high PX yield is possible at all times.

Purification of the feedstream by removal of phenol and/or styrene maybe done by any method known in the art. Methods of removal of phenoland/or styrene or other olefins have been disclosed in U.S. PublicationNos. 2012-0048780; 2012-0316375; U.S. patent application Ser. Nos.13/618,211; 13/875,373; 13/875,402; and references discussed therein.These processes are particularly advantageously used when the source ofphenols and/or styrene are from an alkylation reactor process comprisingthe contact of methanol and/or dimethylether with benzene and/or toluenein the presence of an acid-active catalyst, particularly aphosphorus-containing ZSM-5 catalyst that has been steamed at atemperature on the order of 1000° F. (538° C.), such as from about 500to about 650° C. Preferred materials to remove at least a portion ofphenol from the feedstream to the isomerization process of the presentinvention include alumina, silica, molecular sieves, zeolites, basicorganic resins, and mixtures thereof; preferred material to remove atleast a portion of styrene from the feedstream to the isomerizationprocess of the present invention include MWW molecular sieves, clay, andmixtures thereof, such as at least one of MCM-22, MCM-36, MCM-49,MCM-56, EMM-10 molecular sieves, and Engelhard F-24, Filtrol 24, Filing25, and Filtrol 62 clays, Attapulgus clay and Tonsil clay.

One of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure canreadily ascertain that phenol and/or styrene can be present in numeroussources of paraxylene. By way of example, such impurities may come fromprior cargoes and may be present in imported paraxylene, or it may comefrom other processes (other than alkylation in the presence of an acidactive catalyst) such as reformate. Reformate may have, by way ofexample, on the order of 200-300 ppm styrene and on the order of 600-800ppm styrenic species (including dimethyl styrene). These are merely afew of the many sources of paraxylene that need to be purified of phenoland/or styrene in order to become suitable feedstreams for the presentprocess comprising liquid isomerization.

While the illustrative embodiments of the invention have been describedwith particularity, it will be understood that various othermodifications will be apparent to and can be readily made by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

Trade names used herein are indicated by a ™ symbol or ® symbol,indicating that the names may be protected by certain trademark rights,e.g., they may be registered trademarks in various jurisdictions. Allpatents and patent applications, test procedures (such as ASTM methods,UL methods, and the like), and other documents cited herein are fullyincorporated by reference to the extent such disclosure is notinconsistent with this invention and for all jurisdictions in which suchincorporation is permitted. When numerical lower limits and numericalupper limits are listed herein, ranges from any lower limit to any upperlimit are contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for the isomerization of aparaxylene-depleted aromatic hydrocarbon feedstream comprising at leastone of phenol and styrene, wherein said isomerization of aparaxylene-depleted feedstream is conducted in the presence of acatalyst comprising MCM-49 and/or an HZSM-5 catalyst, wherein saidHZSM-5 catalyst, if present, is characterized by an average crystal sizeof <0.1 micron and a SiO₂/Al₂O₃ molar ratio in the range of about20-100, in a reactor at a temperature of less than 295° C., and apressure sufficient to maintain the xylenes in liquid phase.
 2. Theprocess of claim 1, wherein said feedstream is characterized ascontaining phenol in the amount of 10 ppm or less.
 3. The process ofclaim 1, wherein said feedstream is characterized as containing phenolin the amount of 5 ppm or less.
 4. The process of claim 1, wherein saidfeedstream is characterized as containing phenol in the amount of 2 ppmor less.
 5. The process of claim 1, wherein said feedstream ischaracterized as containing styrene in the amount of 100 ppm or less. 6.The process of claim 1, wherein said feedstream is characterized ascontaining styrene in the amount of 50 ppm or less.
 7. The process ofclaim 1, wherein said feedstream is characterized as containing styrenein the amount of 20 ppm or less.
 8. The process of claim 1, furthercharacterized in that said process is operated in a continuous mode witha feedstream containing low ppm levels of dissolved H₂ in the range ofabout 4 to 100 ppm.
 9. The process of claim 1, further characterized inthat said process is operated in a continuous mode with a feedstreamcontaining low ppm levels of dissolved H₂ in the range of about 4 to 20ppm.
 10. The process of claim 1, further characterized in that saidprocess is operated in a cyclic mode with an H₂-free feedstream, andfurther wherein said catalyst is periodically regenerated by a stepincluding contacting said catalyst with an H₂-containing feedstream,wherein said H₂-free feedstream is characterized as containing less than4 ppm dissolved H₂ and said H₂-containing feedstream is characterized ascontaining about 4 or more ppm dissolved H₂.
 11. The process of claim 1,wherein said reactor is at a temperature of 260° C. or less.
 12. Theprocess of claim 1, including a step of decreasing the amount of phenoland/or styrene upstream of said isomerization.
 13. The process of claim1, wherein said paraxylene-depleted feedstream is characterized as anaromatic hydrocarbon feedstream consisting essentially of a xyleneswherein the concentration of paraxylene is less than about 22 wt %relative to the total C8 aromatic hydrocarbons in said feedstream. 14.The process of claim 12, wherein said decreasing comprises: treating aparaxylene-containing feedstream comprising at least one of phenol andstyrene to reduce the amount of at least one of said phenol and styrene,wherein said treating comprises: (i) contact of saidparaxylene-containing feedstream with a material selective for thereduction of phenol relative to styrene and paraxylene; and/or (ii)contact of said paraxylene-containing feedstream with a materialselective for the reduction of styrene relative to phenol andparaxylene, to produce a first product having a reduced concentration ofphenol and/or styrene.
 15. The process of claim 14, wherein saidparaxylene-containing feedstream comprises paraxylene obtained fromreformate, an alkylation reaction, imported paraxylene, and mixturesthereof.